Playoff time - Quins vs Saints - Saturday 12th May 2:45 KO

First topic message reminder :

So,
Quins finished the season top of the tables, but now comes the time when mistakes are punished in full.
They have been there before, playing LI in a home semi-final and lost out.
This time, I hope they wont be taking anything lightly. A good number of the current team will have played in that game Robson/Care/Easter/JTH/Brown ect. and be suitably charged up for Saturday.

Quins team pretty much picked itself, only varioations on injury -

Marler/Grey/Johnston
Robson/Kohn
Robshaw/Mauri/Easter
Care
Evans
S.Smith
JTH
Lowe
Tom Williams
Brown

Bench of -
Rob Buchanan/Lambert/Croall/Clegg/Dickson/Chisholm/Hopper

I think that Ugo Monye is injured at the moment - hence Tom Williams.

Who are Saints likely to field?
Is Hartley going to be back from his ban?
Is Ashton injured?
Lawes/Tom Wood and Callum Clarke all wont be available.

9- 6 to Saints at the moment

Quins really being their own worst enemies at the moment.

Still Saints are having to make a lot of tackles and Mo is slowly imposing himself on the match. Just need Evans to hit top gear and get our backs to chill out a bit.

9-12 at half time.

Dean Ryan is a real surprise, he is a very good analyst. Quins seem to be playing a completely different style of game to what they are comfy with and it's showing.

Finally take the lead- please hold it!

Aaaagh!!!!

I'll be watching Quins in the final live!

Well done Quins!

Commiserations Saints, you would have fully deserved the win if you'd got it.

Me too yappy. Bad luck Saints, could easily have gone the other way

Well done Quins. Best team won! Jim can we please get some good players to replace those leaving! Otherwise we are screwed next season!

That was too close, genuinely thought I would vomit for most of that match.

What a maul at the end there, go back to the start of the season and who'd have thought Quins would win a knock out game at the death with a driving maul.

Tbf you were right in it till the death and for 78 minutes Lamb had out played Evans, just that restart at the end killed it for you.

Just a bridge too far for your squad I think, battling back from the bottom of the table to the play offs seemed to injure too many players.

yappysnap wrote:Tbf you were right in it till the death and for 78 minutes Lamb had out played Evans, just that restart at the end killed it for you.

Just a bridge too far for your squad I think, battling back from the bottom of the table to the play offs seemed to injure too many players.

Very true. Although I am still proud of their efforts I am getting sick of being a nearly team! The problem that I and other Saints fans are facing is that their are not even any rumours of any half decent players coming in to replace our leavers. We need a class 10 like Evans as ours are ok on their day and pants every other day. Far too inconsistent! I will just say though that the call ups for the WC did affect us, but Leicester have managed to get better. It'll be interesting when lots of the good Quins players are playing international rugby more regularily and then have to miss lots of games etc. I wonder how it'll affect you.

Do you not have an academy 10 who is meant to be quite good?

I agree you do need some new blood in the team, not sure where though as on paper the squad is very good. Maybe it's the coaches that need to change? Backs coach in particular.

We have some good players in the academy but IMO noone that could step up and be better than the players we currently have. The silence on new players from the terraces is deafening i'm afraid. I agree that the back have not really been at the races. However, Tiny and Mooj did not play well today. Fisrt choice with no ijuries and we can put togther a good team. Under that without the players we are using we don't. I'm not sure the mindset is right. I'm sure the talk of Jim for England did not help either. Although i'm not making excuses. We were not good enoughthis season.

I think Saints have several good young 10s. Lamb didn't play badly, but just makes too many mistakes, and Saints in general ran out of players. I think Craig is going to have a long England career. Saints deserve credit, but with their scrum a fading force they may need a rethink next year.

Quins looked like they were bottling that. Lowe and JTH were very poor (I really just cannot imagine JTH as an international class player - he's one dimensional and not even that good at the one dimension he has). I posted elsewhere about Gloucester's lack of character. Well here Marler, Brown and Robshaw dragged Quins over the line. England have a very nice selection problem developing at LH.

A good result for the neutral as Saints just don't have enough players left, or a good enough scrum, to have challenged the winners of the other semi. Hopefully Quins will deal better with the pressure next week.

I hope now that we have got over the first hurdle the jitters will be gone and we can actually play our game plan in the final.

Dave I agree nearly the whole backline for Quins bottled it infact only 5 players played well for us, luckily that was enough. JTH seems to be fading at the moment, he was massive earlier in the season and with Hopper outside I think Mat makes up for his short comings but Lowe and JTH struggle for balance, I'd keep Lowe and replace Jordan but the only other 12 is Casson who is far too green at the moment.

Marler simply has to start one of the tests. Give him a game and I guarantee he will not be out of that England team again.

DaveM, I hope you are right as i'm backing Quins now. Obviously as a Saints fan i'm not keen on seeing either Tigers or Sarries winning! Craig has done well for us, yes. I'm not sure the scrum is in decline if we have all players available. Although I was particularly disappointed with Tiny today.

I kind of agree with the commentators in that what ever training Tiny got with Tonga at the WC seems to have sent him backwards. And honestly a lot of players have been punished by Johnston in the scrums this year. Lawes and Hartley also obviously have a much bigger impact there then realised, just like if we're missing Kohn our scrum goes backwards.

Saints scrum and pack should be fine next season, a good rest and pre season is exactly what they need.

Well, with the poor performances, a year ago we would have lost that. Hopefully this means we have gotten better at dealing with the pressure, but we will need the nervelessness and better performances in the final.

Is this on TV guys?

yappysnap wrote:JTH seems to be fading at the moment, he was massive earlier in the season and with Hopper outside I think Mat makes up for his short comings but Lowe and JTH struggle for balance, I'd keep Lowe and replace Jordan but the only other 12 is Casson who is far too green at the moment.

Haven't you signed a talented Kiwi 10/12/15? Perhaps he could play IC next season. I do think that JTH being involved in the matchday squad for England is verging on bizarre.

And Casson is too green? Possibly, but he went to the 2010 JWC (Lowe went to 2009) and if he's ever going to make the breakthrough for Quins he really should be featuring a bit more by now. Clegg was at 2010 too and is also suffering from under-use (although this is far more understandable as Evans is top class).

Casson offers a very different option to JTH so it'd be nice to see him used more. Botica, I hope, will bench cover 10 and 12 and he can play 12 when Clegg is on

Ah yes i'd forgotten the English/Kiwi we'd signed. He is meant to play 10 and 12 very well actually.

Maybe green wasn't the right term but Casson struggles with the defencive duties that are put on him albeit he hasn't had a chance to play inside Lowe who'd make his life a lot easier. JTH shouldn't be in the England team but he fits the game plan of being a flanker at 12 and aslong as the 13 can create stuff individually (like Manu of JJ can) then it's not too much of a problem (hopefully).

Next season I don't think JTH who feature so much and I think he'll be better for it. He must of started just about every single match that he's been fit for and never gets subbed. That's got to be tiring.

Clegg too should get more time next season, Evans is fading now and can't be relied on every match. He'll need to be conserved for Europe and key games and Clegg will need to be trusted a lot more.

Chequered again has summed it up a lot better in far fewer words!

I think Clegg will be a lot happier playing with another kicker on the pitch. I'm convinced that the pressure of being main kicker is what detracts from his overall game

Well done Quins, very well deserved spot in the final. I must admmit I am very impressed how the Quins pack have gone from lightweight to a force within a relatively short period of time.

On a seperate note and probably me just being touchy, but I really think Tom May is a prized prat. Earlier in the season I thought he showed a real lack of class with his celebration when scoring against Newcastle. Then yesterday at the final whistle he chucks the ball at the back of Robson's head. Nothing serious, but shows this guy's head is probably buried up his backside!

Here's my match report on the v2Journal
http://www.v2journal.com/harlequins-vs-northampton-saints---2012-premiership-semi-final.html

Really enjoyable match given the tension.

HKC

Hadn't spotted that until your comment. Very odd.

My sons were playing yesterday when the match was on. So I recorded the match and will watch today.
Don't tell me the result...............

But, also please don't tell me that Jim Mallinder subbed off our front row sometime after 60 minutes like usual! The strength of our team. Please!

Possibly you'll be surprised by the match then Dr. Those subs couldn't come soon enough...

Seriously, all I know is the score. I will watch tonight and cry in my beer.

Apologies thought you were watching now

No worries, mate.
I was in the exact same position last season when Saints were playing Leinster. My lads were playing so I was at their match. I glanced at my phone to grab the score and it was halftime. I was a happy boy until I got home...........

Late to the party (again) but no arguments from me regarding the result. Quins destroyed the Saints scrum (thought Tiny was the weak link) although each time Quins got the push on the Saints second row were about 5 miles apart and the flankers were too concerned with defending the channels to bother pushing. Overall though it was certainly a high tension, low quality game.

Will be cheering Quins on in the final but if I was a betting man.....

Watching the ESPN highlights, so my first view of the game.

First thought, slightly surprised only Saints had a man sinbinned for repeaated offences.

Second thought - or more a question. At 15-15 Quins are awarded a penalty for PDJ retaliating to a forearm smash to the jaw from Marler. Was there any niggle prior to this?

Was there any niggle prior to this?

Plenty at the scrum previously. Joe Marler was a lucky boy the ref didn't see the original strike otherwise he could have been headed for a ten minute sit down.

I actually thought it was pretty niggle free tbh. Apart from the two players striking, which there was really nothing in, then it was all played in pretty good spirits.

Just a shame about the quality of the play at times.

And there's nothing wrong with winding up the oppo's when you get away with it...